Dossier: The Assassin
Thane Krios is a drell trained from childhood as an elite assassin, proficient in both long-range sniping kills and close infiltration. He has slowed his activities in recent years but is rumored to have a target on Illium. Acquisition The Illusive Man gives Shepard a dossier on Thane after the Collector attack on Horizon. Preparation In this mission you will face, not to put too fine a point on it, 105 enemies. In other words a whole lot of small stuff plus one seriously tough krogan and two nasty Commandos. For selecting powers to bring the Armor/Shields/Barrier ratio is approximately 3:3:1 but the Vanguards and Commandos with the barriers are substantially tougher. Warp and Warp Ammo can deal with both armor and barriers well, which makes them very useful in this situation. Overload helps with shields and can detonate the generous number of explosive/containment items found in Dantius Towers. The high density of smallish enemies means powers evolved for area effects (e.g. Concussive Blast, Pull Field, Area Overload, Incineration Blast, etc) will work well. There will be mechs intermixed with mercenaries throughout the level, so AI Hacking can be put to excellent use here. As far as weapons go this mission features several long corridors/bridges where squad members with sniper rifles will do very well, but there are some shotgun-range knife fights coming too. Heavy Weapons choice should emphasize area-of-effect, which makes the Collector Particle Beam rather unsuitable here. Walkthrough Arrival on Illium Upon landing on Illium, Commander Shepard is welcomed by a Nos Astra official, Careena, who informs Shepard that all administrative formalities and docking fees have been taken care of by an old friend, former shipmate Liara T'Soni, who would like to speak with Shepard in her office, as soon as is convenient. EDI advises Shepard that Liara may have information on Thane's location. Liara tells Shepard that Thane arrived a few days ago and his target is a corporate executive, Nassana Dantius. Shepard may be acquainted with Nassana depending on choices made in Mass Effect. Thane contacted an asari named Seryna, who has an office in the cargo transfer levels. Follow the lead to Seryna’s office. Getting to Thane Seryna's office is under the shipping sign. Shepard learns that Seryna used to be head of security for Nassana. She found out that Nassana routinely engaged in assassinations of business rivals and government officials, as well as the death of her own sister. Seryna confronted Nassana and was fired for it. Thane learned about Nassana's security from Seryna. Nassana is in the penthouse of Tower One of the Dantius Towers. Seryna believes that Thane will likely infiltrate through the second tower, which is still under construction. Seryna helps Shepard because she believes it will give Thane a better chance at successfully assassinating Nassana. Seryna can take Shepard and the squad to the Dantius Towers. However, Shepard can only go to the Towers once, and the Commander cannot return to Nos Astra once at the Towers without first completing the mission. Dantius Tower Two When Shepard agrees to go, a cutscene plays where Seryna describes Nassana’s paranoia of killers, and rightfully so given her business practices. After being dropped off at the bottom of the empty tower, the squad quickly runs into a bunch of security mechs chasing panicked salarian construction workers. Once you regain control, shoot out the glass and engage the FENRIS and LOKI mechs; they won't come after you until you attack so feel free to take a moment to activate ammo powers and so forth. Once the mechs have been disposed of, check out the room to the left where Shepard can find a medical station with Medi-gel and a hackable Terminal (+4800 credits). Shepard will talk to a wounded salarian for some information. The worker will explain that Nassana sent the mechs to round up all the night workers to get rid of them immediately. A Paragon interrupt uses some Medi-gel to get some more information out of him and earning his respect. The information is well worth it. The other information the salarian provides is a good picture of your trip through the tower. Level 1 After dealing with the salarian in whichever way you choose, go through the door and down the hall. Be prepared to take cover as soon as you exit. Eclipse mercs and a passel of mechs will attack you. This begins a long series of fights around and through a U-shaped level. Take cover and eliminate the 24 enemies as they come along. Be careful throughout the level, and also the entire mission, as the mercs are fond of shooting at you and your squad from the flanks. At each of the corners, send your squad ahead of you to flush out the enemies, but keep your squadmates in cover. As long as you move forward slowly, you will also get several "breaks" between waves of enemies, during which any downed squadmates will revive for free. It's advisable to concentrate on the mechs first in each wave, as they are the only enemies which will attempt to approach to dangerously close ranges - target the fast-moving FENRIS mutts first, and then LOKI mechs. Once you round the second corner there are two corridors that the Eclipse mercs will attack from. One has cover and the other doesn’t. One option is to use your squad to pin down the mercs, then either send one squadmate or go yourself to flank the mercs and reach the ramp at the end of the level. If you take cover right at the "turning point" of the U-shaped level, you can cover the entrances of both corridors. Most of the enemies, especially the mechs, will helpfully come toward you while you mow them down from safety. Whittling them down until there are only one or two left will make the process of advancing to flush out the last holdouts far less dangerous. When you finally reach the end of the corridor, head up the ramp to level 2. Level 2 At the top of a ramp and past a door there will be two med-kits with Medi-gel, thermal clips and an unexpected visitor. Once you take these items, take cover as Eclipse is out for your blood. If you're already at your Medi-gel capacity, leave the two med-kis on the ground for now, in case of emergencies. You'll be able to return here and replenish your Medi-gel any time before you enter the elevator at the end of the level. Once you engage the mercs you will encounter four distinct waves of mercs coming along the corridors and rooms of the level. Each wave consists of four mechs, five shielded mercs, and one tough Eclipse Vanguard with barriers (but the fourth and final wave has one fewer merc). Between each wave you'll usually have a moment to grab ammo, move up a bit, etc. Use the cover and move when necessary to take out the attacking mercs -- as before it's best take out the mechs first. The safest plan is to start behind the first low cover that faces the L-shaped cover at the end of the area - this covers both of the directions enemies will approach and keeps you from getting flanked. When things calm down you can approach the L-shaped cover and face another wave of enemies. You now have two options, either go straight up the hall (directly confronting the waves of foes) or go through the door back and to the right to reach a fairly safe flanking position that tend to separate you from your squad but will let you mow down enemies crossing an area with little cover. Once the mercs are down take a second to gather clips and reload. There is also a med-kit with Medi-gel just after the two paths converge. The next area is complicated because of the narrow entryway but creative and intelligent usage of squadmates can help in this situation. The entire section before the elevator battle can be completed much easier by stationing your squadmates on the ramp you came up and having Shepard stick close to the door you came in. LOKI mechs will come to your position but the mercs will stay in cover inside the room. You can have Shepard peek around the corner, use weapons / powers to chip away at the mercs through all of the waves and even the Vanguards won't charge you. Shepard will have to move up to trigger additional waves but can run back to the starting section to take them down safely. Once the mercs stop coming, explore a little. Do not go into the elevator yet. Go to the other side from where you entered and down the hallway. Here there is the rapid-fire M-97 Viper, some power cells, and a hackable Terminal (+4200 credits). If you pick up the M-97 Viper at this point, Shepard and any other squadmates with a sniper rifle will automatically change to the M-97 Viper. With the upcoming elevator battle, you may not want to get the M-97 Viper at this point if you prefer a different sniper rifle. Shepard can pick up a second M-97 Viper in the next section. Go back and bypass a nearby door to find some salarian workers, Daroth and Shelum. The salarians will tell Shepard that someone who was not an Eclipse mercenary locked them in the room. You can earn some morality points with the conversation, depending on your choices. Inside the room is a med-kit with Medi-gel and a secure locker (+3000 credits). Now it's time to deal with the elevator. Before you do, put your squad in cover. If you stick one squadmate behind each of the cover locations on the left and right of the elevator, it will help keep the enemies from dispersing rapidly when they emerge. Next, activate the elevator and take cover yourself immediately: one good spot is to climb over the L-shaped cover in the middle rear directly facing the elevator, but if you prefer having an easy retreat you'll want to be somewhere with a corridor at your back. A krogan Bounty Hunter and two Eclipse Engineers will come out of the elevator. Using the Arc Projector or the M-100 Grenade Launcher can be helpful here, particularly when the elevator first opens and the enemies are all clumped up together. It's safest to start by concentrating on the Engineers and eliminating them one at a time - they're much weaker than the Bounty Hunter and taking them down eliminates the danger of their drones zapping you out of cover at an awkward moment. There is no reason to put your squadmates into cover right near the elevator. Put your squadmates into cover far back into the hallway leading into the elevator room. Shepard can then activate the elevator and run back to your squadmates. Shepard and the squad can then move backwards even more if needed and take this battle slowly and carefully. Once all the enemies are down, you have a moment to return for any Medi-gel you left in reserve, the M-97 Viper (if you want it now) and grab any ammo left. When you're ready, take the elevator up. Level 3 Exit the elevator to find an Eclipse Trooper communicating with his superiors. Shepard interrupts and the merc turns around to see three weapons pointing at him. The conversation that follows gives you a few morality points and a Renegade interrupt. Using the Renegade interrupt sends the merc through the window. During the conversation, you get information about how to get to Nassana and then you can decide to kill him or let him go. The Paragon option lets him leave and he doesn’t warn his friends, the Renegade option calls the mercs to your presence. Either way you choose to go prepare for a fight or just turn around. If you chose the Renegade option be prepared for a "knife fight" with some Eclipse mercs. Regardless of how you handled the lone merc, head over to a datapad on the floor. The datapad contains the Kirosa genetic database for the Salarian Family Data assignment. Open either of the doors into the next room, which is large, open, has plenty of cover, and more than a few explosive containers. If you enter quietly you can hear conversation between Nassana and her hired help. She isn’t happy about all the damage you have done. Once in cover, Overload the big explosive container if possible, and then target one of the two FENRIS mechs so that it can't dislodge you from cover; then take down any LOKI mechs for similar reasons. Next comes a wave of three mercs, including another Eclipse Vanguard who sometimes hangs back a bit - eliminate them in whatever order fits your style. There is no need to go running into the room and get torn the shreds. Place your squadmates into cover / squatting down at the starting point of this section. Shepard can walk forward to one of the doors (it will open automatically), use weapons / powers on the mercs / mechs, and then move back to the starting hallway to recharge shields. Be aware that the enemies can follow Shepard through the doors! Chip away at the enemies and soon they will all fall. Once the Eclipse Mercs are dealt with go to the door on the left side of the room and bypass the door. When the door opens a terrified salarian points a pistol at you. A quick Renegade interrupt will cause you to punch the salarian, but it may be better to wait it out. No matter your choices, the armed salarian, Telon, will fall unconscious and his brother, Chesith, rushes to his aid. The conversation tells you how they were threatened by a Merc, whose head then exploded and Telon took his gun. Once the conversation is over, the room contains a med-kit with Medi-gel and a hackable PDA (+6000 credits) on a Eclipse mercenary corpse. Head back out and before the ramps up to the roof and bridge, there are power cells, a comm terminal, and the second M-97 Viper in case it wasn't taken earlier. The terminal provides some options for annoying Nassana but no morality points. Head up the ramps to the roof and the bridge to Tower One. You don't have to take the second M-97 Viper at this point if Shepard / squadmates have sniper rifles that you prefer. You can come back down the stairs after the upcoming battle and then pick up the M-97 Viper. There is a weapons locker to change back to your preferred sniper rifle in this section after you collect the M-97 Viper. Roof and Bridge Get into cover fast because there are flanking enemies on your left. Two mechs provide a screen for three Vanguards, so this can be a sharp fight. Use what cover you have to take out the enemies. Move up when you get the opportunity to get to the pillars and crates on the opposite side from where you entered. There is no need to stay in the battle area to get cut to ribbons. Set your squadmates into cover / squatting at the bottom of the staircase leading to the battle area. Shepard can then run up the staircase, trigger the LOKI mechs and Vanguards, and then draw them down the staircase. The LOKI mechs will follow you down the staircase but the Vanguards tend to stay up top in cover. Chip away at all of the enemies using weapons / powers and run back down the staircase at any point you need to recharge your shields. Once all the mercs are down, move up and take the refined eezo crate (+500 eezo) and if you need new weapons, use the weapons locker. Also don’t forget to pick up the med-kit with Medi-gel just to the left of the locker. This is a good save point. Around the corner, if you are careful you can avoid being detected until you start shooting, and if you shoot or overload the big explosive container first you'll do massive damage to the two mercs standing right by it. Be careful in this area because in addition to the mechs, mercs, and Vanguard, there is an Eclipse Commando who has both barrier and armor. The area has little room for your squad to take cover or maneuver. Concentrate on one enemy at a time, in what ever order they present themselves. There is no need to stay in the battle area to get cut to ribbons. Set your squadmates into cover / squatting near the weapons locker. Shepard can then peek around the corner, trigger mercs and mechs, and then chip away using weapons / powers safely from around the corner. The LOKI mechs will come around the cover in the area so back up if you need to get help from your squadmates but the mercs tend to stay in cover. Run back into the weapons locker area at any point you need to recharge your shields. Once the mercs are down go to the end and there will be a submachine gun upgrade, another med-kit with Medi-gel, and a hackable PDA (+12000 credits) on another dead Eclipse mercenary corpse. Be sure to loot everything, change your weapon configurations if you want, and/or save your game before heading to the bridge entry point. The ledge drop next to the last set of items is a point of no return. The bridge to Tower One is a long narrow walkway that is ideal for sniper rifles and certain assault rifles. There is the usual assortment of Eclipse mercenaries and mechs. It is possible to use powers to knock enemies off for instant-kills. Move from cover to cover on the shaky bridge until you start taking rocket fire. At the opposite end of the bridge are two stationary rocket drones. They start firing long before they become "targetable" by powers. This presents problems in using squad powers or the Missile Launcher, because Shepard will often lock onto another target even if pointed at one of the rocket drones. However the drones only have shields so once the shields are down they’re gone. Infiltrators with Incinerate can throw the plasma bolts over very long distances using a sniper rifle. Zoom into one of the rocket drones using any sniper rifle and place the crosshairs on the body of the rocket drone. While still zoomed in, throw an Incinerate bolt at the rocket drone, and it will strike the drone. (Use a hot-button / hot-key to use the power without going to the power wheel). You'll know you hit the drone when it starts firing rockets back at Shepard. Using this method, you can continuously throw Incinerate bolts safely from cover until the drones fall without having to be far up the bridge. This long distance Incinerate tactic works at any time on any enemy in any other mission as well even when very far away. As long as you can see the enemy clearly, you can hit them. If you are close enough but still out of target lock, the target lock can actually show up in sniper zoom, and the plasma bolt will curve to hit the enemy. This tactic doesn't work if the enemy is behind cover though. Once you have cleared the bridges of enemies, get into cover at the end of the bridge but not the wall, because another wave will appear on upper level of the bridge leading to Tower One’s penthouse. Take these guys out before you go up the stairs, or you will regret it no matter what difficulty you are on. Once they are out send your squad up the stairs but keep them close to the right and equip a short range weapon as another shotgun-armed Eclipse Commando awaits in a confined space as the last barrier to Nassana’s Penthouse. If you can, use your squad to fire from cover, but most of the time you have to lure the Commando away so you can fire on her from cover. The Commando will not follow you back down the stairs so stay on the upper level and retreat if necessary to regenerate shields and health. Once the Commando and any other mercs are down, the combat portion of the mission is over. Enter Nassana’s Penthouse when you have nothing more to do in the area. Nassana’s Penthouse Once you open the door, the few remaining Eclipse mercs, tending to Nassana herself, raise their weapons. Nassana turns around and comments in shock "Shepard, but you’re dead!", at which point Shepard will humorously respond by saying "I got better." There is more dialogue with Nassana if your Shepard is imported from a Mass Effect save (provided that you did the related side assignment). She is shocked to see Shepard again, then comments on the irony that she had Shepard kill her sister back in 2183, and now it's her turn. Nassana asks Commander Shepard who hired Shepard to kill her; she disbelieves that the commander is not there to kill her due to the recent rampage. A subsequent noise distracts the mercs and Nassana tells them to check all the other entrances. Clearly she is even more paranoid than she was described. Thane is waiting in the ventilation ducts for the right moment. Once the mercs have their backs to the windows, he makes his move. Thane jumps down from the ducts and kills one merc silently by snapping his neck, then he immediately kills another with a quick punch in the neck and proceeds to shoot the last of Nassana's mercs before he grabs her herself. He shoves his pistol into Nassana's gut and pulls the trigger at point-blank range, causing Nassana to slump dead. Thane gently places her on the desk and folds her arms, before he starts praying over Nassana's dead body. At this point, you can start speaking with Thane by choosing to be nice or angry that he is ignoring you. During the conversation, Thane comments on how he was working his way up and how you provided a great distraction that allowed him to get further and faster than he had hoped, to which you can respond however you like. After that, you can tell Thane about the suicide mission and that you need his help to bring down the Collectors. Interestingly, Thane has little problem with being on a mission that will likely result in death, because he admits that he is dying regardless and wishes to make the universe a brighter place before his death, but assures that his condition is not contagious and will not affect his performance. Thane then agrees to work for Shepard for no charge, after which the conversation will end and you will automatically be returned to the Normandy. Normandy On the Normandy, Jacob distrusts Thane because he believes the drell is essentially a mercenary. Thane asks to be quartered in a part of a ship that is arid. EDI recommends the Life Support section because it is slightly more arid than the rest of the ship. You can find Thane there for the rest of the mission. Thane is unperturbed by the presence of an AI. Email If he was saved, Jeirt, one of the salarian workers, sends the following email (titled "You changed my life.") to Shepard regarding his encounter with Thane: Enemies *Bounty Hunter *Combat Drone *Eclipse Commando *Eclipse Engineer *Eclipse Trooper *Eclipse Vanguard *FENRIS Mech *LOKI Mech *Rocket Drone Mission Summary Recruited Thane Krios for the team, but medically questionable unless mission is resolved quickly. Legal representatives dealing with public damage to Dantius Towers. *Experience reward: 1,000 (1,250) *Credits: 60,000 **Cerberus Funding: 30,000 **Credits Found: 30,000 *Weapons: **M-97 Viper Sniper Rifle *Upgrades **Submachine Gun Damage (Microfield Pulsar) *Minerals **Element Zero: 500 Trivia *Jacob is dismissive of Thane because he is essentially a gun-for-hire. Ironically, Shepard may call Jacob a gun-for-hire in an earlier conversation with the Illusive Man. *After completion of the mission, a news report can be heard on Illium about Nassana's death. The price of stocks in her corporation has risen as a result. *If you speak to Tana (Seryna's work colleague, found near where you took the ride to Dantius Towers) after finishing the mission, she will give you a datapad with a message from Seryna explaining that she has left Illium for a "new life" and was glad to hear that Thane succeeded in his mission. *The Renegade interrupt with the Eclipse mercenary on Level 3 and Nassana's comment about Shepard are seen in a few Mass Effect 2 trailers. *Dossier: The Assassin was the mission featured in 2009's E3 demo. pl:Akta: Zabójca uk:Досьє: Найманий вбивця Category:Mass Effect 2 Category:Missions Category:Illium Category:Dossier Missions